New London girls reach Appalachian Christmas tourney final

Fairfield — Olivia Yard scored 14 points as fifth-ranked New London cruised to a 57-34 victory over Thomaston in the opening round of the Notre Dame Appalachian Christmas girls' basketball tournament on Friday night.

The Whalers (4-0) will play thirdranked and host Notre Dame, a 6864 winner over No. 2 Hand in Friday night's seocnd game, in today's final at 7 p.m.

Joniyah Bland-Fitzpatrick added 11 points for New London, Wendy Gethers finished with 10 and Jamya Beddoe came off the bench in the fourth quarter and scored all six of her points. In other games: • Jada Mills scored 13 points as Norwich Free Academy rolled to a 5837 non-conference win over Mercy. Shante Talley added 11 points for the

Wildcats (2-0) while Sarah Ericson finished with eight.

• Alyssa Virtue, Nyseannah Ishmael, and Charlotte Carney each finished with a double-double as Fitch built a 32-11 halftime lead on the way to a 58-42 road win over Plainfield.

Virtue finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds, Ishmael had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Carney had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Falcons (3-1).

Rita Sefransky added 12 points and three steals for Fitch.

• Emily DeRoehn had 15 points, eight rebounds and seven steals as Old Lyme rolled to a 53-29 win over Westbrook in the Shoreline Conference. Sam Gray added 10 points, four steals and three rebounds for the Wildcats (2-2, 2-2).

• Molly Butremovic had 15 rebounds, five steals, two blocks and two assists to highlight Wheeler's 39-14 non-league win over Ellis Tech. Abby Hauptmann added 14 points and five rebounds for the Lions (2-1) and Leah Pion had nine points and seven rebounds.

• Sidney Pankowski had 10 points and 12 rebounds as Lyman Memorial defeated Norwich Tech 34-19 in a non-conference game. Ashley Williams scored eight points for Norwich Tech (2-2) and Lucie Jules grabbed 10 rebounds.

• Zoe Ribeiro finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds and three steals as Stonington defeated Chariho (R.I.) in the opening round of the Westerly Community Credit Union Holiday Tournament on Thursday night. Sophia Bell added 12 points, 20 rebounds and four steals for the Bears (2-0), who play South Kingstown (R.I.) in Saturday's final at 8 p.m., and

Anna Drago had 10 points.

Boys' basketball

• Fitch advanced to the championship game of its own holiday tournament with a 45-42 win over Chicopee (Mass.).

The Falcons (3-0) will play Maloney in Saturday's 7 p.m. final. The Spartans defeated Hewlett (N.Y.) 5452. Seamus Graves had 14 points and 10 rebounds to lead Fitch while Kyhol Kershaw finished with 13 points, five rebounds and five steals.

• Brady Sheffield scored all 14 of his points in the second half as Old Lyme remained unbeaten with a 68-37 win over Westbrook in the Shoreline Conference. Jared Ritchie added 11 points and four steals for the Wildcats (3-0, 2-0) while Aedan Using had 11 points and five blocked shots and Ray Doll had 11 points.

• Liam Kane scored 18 points as

Waterford rolled to a 64-53 win over Valley Regional in the consolation game of the Art Kohs Tournament at Xavier in Middletown. Ryan O'Connell added 11 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots for the Lancers (1-2), who used an 18-1 run to break the game open, while Trevor D'Amico scored 11 points and Robby Zawacki had eight points and seven rebounds.

H.S. wrestling

• Ledyard split a five-team meet at Foran, defeating Nonnewaug 70-12 and Fairfield Prep 60-21 while losing to Foran 53-23 and Haddam-Killingworth 39-32. Caleb Phillips (126, 132) went 5-0 with four pins for the Colonels (3-2), including a pin in a one-person match against Shepaug Valley, while Connor Doran (113) and Brayden Grim (160) each went 4-0 with three pins.